Jesus laughs

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In the Daily Telegraph, which is Britain’s Top Newspaper for Oldies, someone wrote a letter for the letters page. The gist was this: “I cannot be a Christian because there is no reference in the New Testament of Jesus laughing.”
This made me think.
Wit? Lots of it. One liners? Lots of them. Kindly remarks and chit chat, yes, even that.
But is there any reference to Jesus actually laughing?
 
The story of Lazarus the poor man was actually a joke against his friend Lazarus (you know the one, brother of Martha and Mary, raised from the dead etc).

By all accounts Martha, Mary and Lazarus were actually pretty wealthy - hence the belief that Mary was the one with the jar of expensive ointment for his feet. I can imagine them having a bit of a chuckle at the fictional beggar also being called Lazarus.
 
Mike Stallard:
In the Daily Telegraph, which is Britain’s Top Newspaper for Oldies, someone wrote a letter for the letters page. The gist was this: “I cannot be a Christian because there is no reference in the New Testament of Jesus laughing.”
This made me think.
Wit? Lots of it. One liners? Lots of them. Kindly remarks and chit chat, yes, even that.
But is there any reference to Jesus actually laughing?
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This says more about the person writing the letter and the editor who accepted it for publication than it does about Christianity. No, I am not aware of any references in Scripture or other Sacred Tradition to Jesus laughing, but so what? There are no references in many historical documents to incidences of any number of famous people laughing. What is it supposed to prove?
 
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LilyM:
The story of Lazarus the poor man was actually a joke against his friend Lazarus (you know the one, brother of Martha and Mary, raised from the dead etc).

By all accounts Martha, Mary and Lazarus were actually pretty wealthy - hence the belief that Mary was the one with the jar of expensive ointment for his feet. I can imagine them having a bit of a chuckle at the fictional beggar also being called Lazarus.
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Brilliant! thanks.
 
Mike Stallard:
In the Daily Telegraph, which is Britain’s Top Newspaper for Oldies, someone wrote a letter for the letters page. The gist was this: “I cannot be a Christian because there is no reference in the New Testament of Jesus laughing.”
This made me think.
Wit? Lots of it. One liners? Lots of them. Kindly remarks and chit chat, yes, even that.
But is there any reference to Jesus actually laughing?
Click to expand...
I don’t think so. The OT said that the Messiah would be “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” I’ve never thought about Jesus laughing. What an odd thing for the letter writer to get hung up on. I’m moved deeply by the image of Him weeping over Jerusalem, weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, the verses where the Evangelists describe Him as being “moved with pity,” the “suffer the little children” bit, the “Simon, do you love Me more than these?..feed My sheep,” the parable of the Prodigal Son. And of course, there’s that little episode where He died for my sins, too!

Maybe He won’t laugh until time is ended and the Kingdom is established. Even then, I suspect He’ll weep over those who refused Him.
 
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Benedictus:
No. In fact, the Church teaches that laughing can be a sin.
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It also can be a great blessing. I know it is not Scriptural, but in The Passion of the Christ, Our Lord was shown as laughing.

I have heard an interpretation of the “giving the food for the children to the dogs” as kind of a humorous banter between Our Lord and the Samaritan woman, as a sort of a satire on the ridiculousness of the hard-hearted and hypocritical Pharisees, but I do not know for sure if that is accurate.
 
Is it possible for an individual to live 30+ years without ever laughing?

Doesn’t sound quite human to me.
 
Sounds like somebody read “The Name of the Rose” and took it wa-a-a-a-a-ay to seriously! 😃

Peace,
Alberich
 
C’mon, Jesus hung around children, I dare anyone to do that and not occasionally laugh when they do/say something funny.
 
May be this somber time of lent is the right time to also think of the very human nature of laughter in The Lord ( and would help to remind that his pain too was / is very real !)

Well , we have assurance from St. John of the many things that are not written down - one of them might be- when the mother of St. John himself, (?the lightening to match the ‘thunder’) asking The Lord, to have her sons seatd at the right hand and left hand side …

How about at the miracles of the 5 loaves and the fish - seeing the wide eyed look of the boy , or even of the apostles …

And the wedding at Cana … or even along with those who got healed - like the blind man ,may be returning with the narrative of how he stood upto the authorities…

And getting the coin from the fish to pay the temple tax - may be a pure gift of mirth for St.Peter, who later on was also to cry much …
 
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Benedictus:
No. In fact, the Church teaches that laughing can be a sin.
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laughing can be a sin. Where in the catechism can I find this LOL
 
Will Pick:
laughing can be a sin. Where in the catechism can I find this LOL
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Paragraph 1856:
But when the sinner’s will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial. (emphasis added)
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My hobby is painting pictures and every now and then I do a scene from the Bible.
Thank you all very much for your (name removed by moderator)ut - you have given me several ideas to think about. Since I wrote my question, I have begun to see Jesus in a totally different light, and to appreciate his dry wit.
 
Mike Stallard:
In the Daily Telegraph, which is Britain’s Top Newspaper for Oldies, someone wrote a letter for the letters page. The gist was this: “I cannot be a Christian because there is no reference in the New Testament of Jesus laughing.”
This made me think.
Wit? Lots of it. One liners? Lots of them. Kindly remarks and chit chat, yes, even that.
But is there any reference to Jesus actually laughing?
Click to expand...
I don’t know of any refrence to George Washington laughing but I am sure he did. History does not seem to record the moments of famous people laughing but that does not mean they don’t do it.
 
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Benedictus:
Paragraph 1856:
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How do you define immoderate laughter though? Laughter is a natural, sometimes uncontrollable response. I think it’s the OBJECT and SUBJECT of the laughter that defines whether it is moderate or immoderate, same with the object and subject of the ‘chatter’. After all, Jesus must’ve talked an awful lot while he was teaching! And after the Resurrection he hung around for forty days to talk some more 😃
 
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LilyM:
How do you define immoderate laughter though? Laughter is a natural, sometimes uncontrollable response. I think it’s the OBJECT and SUBJECT of the laughter that defines whether it is moderate or immoderate, same with the object and subject of the ‘chatter’.
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No, I’d say that immoderate doesn’t refer to the subject/object of the laughter. Immoderate, by definition, refers to quantity.

Clearly laughing at someone could be a sin too.
 
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Lance:
I don’t know of any refrence to George Washington laughing but I am sure he did. History does not seem to record the moments of famous people laughing but that does not mean they don’t do it.
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Also, and if you notice in old pictures, nobody smiles either.
 
~SunShine~:
Also, and if you notice in old pictures, nobody smiles either.
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There’s a good reason for that – in early photography, exposure times were long, and people had to remain still for the whole time. A neutral expression is much easier to hold (still) than a smile. 🙂

Assuming you’re not laughing at someone, with the intention to be hurtful, I just don’t see where laughing is immoderate or a sin.

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
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